Author: UCU Administrator

Thank you to everyone who attended our summer social/International Labour Day picnic and our AGM, both of which took place in early May.

The branch is continuing to advocate and struggle in solidarity with our trans members, students, and colleagues who continue to suffer the fallout of the Supreme Court ruling announced in April this year. At our AGM, the motion “supporting trans rights in the context of the Supreme Court ruling” was unanimously passed, and we also succeeded in lobbying the University to revert a damaging update which was briefly published to its Trans Inclusion Code of Conduct. We are grateful for the ongoing efforts of all our members in support of this struggle. If you want to get involved, please e-mail chair@warwickucu.org.uk to find out about our working group.

Students and branch members are also continuing to advocate for freedom and justice for Palestine in the wake of the latest horrific news coming out of the region. Please keep an eye out here and in your member e-mails for events and opportunities to get involved and to pressure the University to do everything it can to achieve dignity, safety, and justice for the Palestinian people in their homeland.

Finally, as summer approaches, our branch is standing in solidarity with colleagues at many others across the country who are facing brutal cuts in staff contracts – your Warwick branch will continue to support our comrades throughout the UK and we will share information about petitions and other campaigns as they come to us.

This month, we stand in solidarity and anger with our trans members and students, following the recent ruling by the supreme court that reinterprets the Equality Act 2010 to exclude trans people from protections based on their gender. Your UCU branch is doing everything it can to work with the University to ensure its response minimizes the harm this will do to our trans siblings, and to uphold the reality that trans men are men, trans women are women, and nonbinary people are valid. If you want to share your concerns through us or support in our efforts, contact us at administrator@warwickucu.org.uk. If you, or anyone you know, need support as a result of the ruling and its aftermath, you can find further advice and resources on the UCU website.

In other news, don’t forget to join us on Thursday 1st May for our Term 3 social, which will be a picnic to coincide with May Day and International Labour Day! Food and drink will be provided (complete the form to let us know you’re coming!) from 13:00 outside the Oculus (or inside it, if the weather dictates).

Finally, be sure to attend our branch AGM on Wednesday 7th May (13:00-14:30) either in person or via Teams – more information will be circulated in the coming week.

Happy spring to all our members! We hope you had an enjoyable term, and thanks to those of you who contributed to the Branch Meeting in the middle of the month. We are pleased to confirm that both delegates and a motion from Warwick UCU to the UCU Congress have been put forward

Across March, your UCU branch has continued to advocate for colleagues threatened by fire-and-rehire contract jeopardy in the Library as a result of Warwick Transformations, and thanks you for your continued support in our ongoing show of solidarity with colleagues at Coventry University, who have faced ongoing insecurity and contract erosion.

COMING UP – be sure to save the date for our UCU May Day Picnic – May 1st! This will be our termly social for the summer term, and also a celebration of International Labour Day to celebrate the many sacrifices and victories which have paved the way to our present-day struggle for equity and justice. We will be socialising, celebrating, and picnicking outside (weather-permitting) or inside of The Oculus at 1pm on 01/05/25!  

Thank you to everyone who came to the Term 2 social last month – keep an eye out for details about the Term 3 social over the coming weeks.

Our members are encouraged to show support for UCU branches engaged in struggles against harmful cuts and overreach across the country – in the past month we’ve seen calls to support efforts to prevent the loss of jobs at Newcastle University, Northampton University, the University of Sunderland, Durham University, and just down the road at Coventry University. Follow the links for e-mail addresses, petitions, and similar to express solidarity and advocate for our colleagues.

We also encourage members to ensure they have received their ballots and voted in the UCU National Elections – the deadline for voting is March 2nd! 

Finally, ahead of UCU Congress later this year, we have an opportunity as a branch to submit a motion – we are looking for suggestions by 7th March. Contact administrator@warwickucu.org.uk to submit a motion, and please join the branch meeting on the 12th March (13:00-14:00) to discuss which of the proposed motions should be submitted.

A very happy 2025 to all our members! 

At the end of last year, Warwick UCU succeeded in reversing the inappropriate dismissals of ten members of teaching staff through negotiation with senior management, and we are happy to share the assurances we have received from the University that such action will not be needed in future.

We encourage all our members who want to align with or get involved with UCU activities to get in touch. You can complete this form if you are organising an event which aligns with the union’s objectives and would like us to publicise it to members. Alternatively, if you are interested in supporting the casework team who do the kind of work mentioned above to support and protect members’ interests, they are always interested in new hands and UCU is offering training on the 23rd April – contact Charlotte at casework-coordinator@warwickucu.org.uk  for more information.

As we approach the end of the year, and for many a winter break and festive period, we hope that all of our members are able to find some peace and celebration amidst all the uncertainty in the sector and beyond.

Warwick UCU members contributed to the consultative ballot regarding the offer by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) on pay and working conditions. You can review the results here, which recommended rejection of the pay offer, acceptance of other elements of the offer, and a willingness to participate in industrial action.

Our members also continue to participate in solidarity actions relating to demilitarisation and solidarity for Palestine: the Staff Network for Palestine was recently launched for anyone wishing to get involved.

Please remember to contact Becks – membership@warwickucu.org.uk – if you’d like to be involved with any of our initiatives and committees (no experience required!) and we hope to see you at our Term 2 Social on Wednesday 15^th January (13:00-14:30 at Curiositea).

Over the past couple of months Warwick UCU has continued to work hard in supporting staff through consultations, both individual and collective, as part of the Warwick Transformations project.

As the whole university sector undergoes a time of financial stress, we are pushing the university for clearer communications on its situation, which we hope to see soon. 

Warwick UCU continues to work on the implementation of a new framework for Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), and there have been changes implemented around allowances for training time with more changes planned for the coming year. 

We have also polled our members to get a sense of what their priorities are moving forward, and engaged in regional and national meetings in order to make members’ voices heard. Issues such as pay, casualisation, workload and visa costs were named as some of the most pressing priorities. 

Warwick UCU could always use involvement from its members, even if you only have five minutes a week to spare. Please contact Becks – membership@warwickucu.org.uk – if you’d like to be involved with any of our initiatives and committees. No experience required. 

Thank you to everyone who attended our Extraordinary General Meeting on Monday 23 September to discuss UCEA’s pay offer for the 2024/25 pay round. We had a lively discussion about UCEA’s offer and ultimately voted to reject the pay and pay-related offer and that we would be in favour of UCU carrying out a ballot for strike action. Our delegate, Caroline Proctor, brought our branch position to the Branch Delegate Meeting on Tuesday. The results of Branch Delegate Meeting are now available here, but the headline results are that the majority of branches rejected the pay offer, but accepted the pay-related elements of the offer; and were in favour of UCU carrying out a consultative and industrial action ballot over this offer.

After several years in the role of Treasurer for the branch, Felix is leaving the University in December for pastures new, so Warwick UCU Committee is seeking a new treasurer. This is an excellent opportunity to get more involved in UCU at Warwick with a role involving overseeing the Warwick UCU budget and actioning financial matters related to the Committee and membership more widely. If you are interested in the role or have any questions, please email Felix.

Don’t forget the beginning-of-term social taking place on Wednesday 2 October 16:30-18:30 at the Dirty Duck! This is an excellent opportunity to meet other members and share some free non-alcoholic drinks and snacks. All members welcome! 

 

Like many of you, we have been watching the ongoing far-right riots across the country in horror. From shocking scenes of racist and islamophobic rallies in major cities across the UK over the weekend, to numerous attacks on mosques, local businesses and individuals (including mob attacks, stabbings, and acid attacks). While these events affect us all, they directly impact many of our members and the broader campus community, whether that’s concerns about using public transport to come into work, or sending one’s children to pre-arranged daytime activities, thus being exposed or exposing one’s loved ones to risk. 

We have written to the University to request that they offer additional forms of support, from access to wellbeing services, to adjustments to their working patterns. Specifically, we have requested that the University authorise approval of work from home requests until the situation has calmed down. Finally, we have requested that the University communicate its support to both staff and students, especially Muslim, migrant and racialised staff and students.

We will let you know when we have received a response from the University, but in the meantime if you feel unsafe, contact your line manager and request permission to work from home. If you are struggling to get support, we are here for you. You can get in touch with our Casework Coordinator at casework-coordinator@warwickucu.org.uk or at administrator@warwickucu.org.uk. 

Finally, it is the responsibility of all of us as trade unionists to oppose all forms of racism. We would ask that all members consider signing this “Trade Union Open Letter” opposing the fascist mobilisations and standing in solidarity with those being targeted:  https://forms.gle/tHW5Wa6NVwduGSqT9. 

As a result of last year’s industrial action, in June the University’s People Committee formally approved the University’s commitment to ensuring no academic workloads exceed 100%. This formalises the removal of the “110%” clause from workload modelling principles and will be enacted across the institution soon. 

The move away from GTA contacts to fractional contracts, also a result of last year’s industrial action and the hard work of Warwick UCU representatives and associated working groups, is being trialled next academic year in three departments with the intention of rolling out the chance across the University in 2025-26. GTAs across the university will see some benefits in the coming academic year, including improved working conditions, clearer role descriptors and paid time for training. Once the move to fractional contacts is completed, we believe Warwick will have some of the best conditions for GTAs in UK higher education. 
 

Warwick Transformations continues to be a focus for the committee but with an expected pause over the summer period.